Value proposition Design: my first review

As a spin-off of the Business Model Canvas, Alex Osterwalder and Co issued some time ago The Value Proposition Design centred on the Value proposition area of the Business Model Canvas (BMC).

First, as the BMC, the Value proposition Design is easy to read, presented with clarity and well designed. You can go through it in just a few days.

Regarding the interest of the content it self, this has for me just the same value as the BMC. Giving an easy approach to the more complex part of the BMC. Defining the right value proposition is something that one should spend time on. It is the core of your BM and worth working hard on it.

We used this approach several time for now. It works quite well when people are used to the BMC. If not it requires much more energy. The output are also of different levels, mainly due to the good or bad understanding of the purpose and definition of « value proposition ». However it has, as the BMC, a major advantage: opening eyes through a dedicated and formalized approach over a part that some of our team never approach. When trying to model a BM with highly technical people, it is hard to have them embracing the business approach and much more than this, it is difficult to have them explaining what client’s problem they solve… Value proposition Design is just about that.

Does it work? Well, I would say « yes ». With a nice and easy to use canvas it should work with most of your projects / teams / ideas. The access to a kind of on-line training helps also (I will come back to you soon with our lessons learned regarding the e-learning of the business model canvas).

In a way it is a nice way to sensitize your team about Value Proposition.